This project was initiated as part of a new research and development focus to improve hydropower generation. One aspect of the problem is severe cavitation erosion which is experienced when hydroturbines are operated at best power or in spinning reserve. Air injection has been used successfully to minimize or eliminate cavitation erosion in other applications. Thus, an investigation was initiated to determine whether or not air injection would be an effective solution for turbine erosion problems. A specially instrumented hydrofoil of elliptic planform and a NACA 0015 cross section was tested at flow velocities up to 20 m s–1, at various values of cavitation index. Although pit sizes were measured on a soft aluminum insert, pitting rate was not measured directly but was inferred from direct measurement of impulsive pressures on the surface of the hydrofoil and by monitoring accelerometers mounted at the base of the hydrofoil. Cavitation noise was also measured by a hydrophone positioned in the water tunnel test section. Air was injected through small holes in the leading edge of the foil. Air injection was found to be very effective in minimizing erosion as inferred from all three cavitation erosion detection techniques.
1.
Abbot, P. A., 1989, “Cavitation Detection Measurements on Francis and Kaplan Hydroturbines,” Proc. ASME Intl. Symp. on Cavitation Noise and Erosion in Fluid Systems, R. E. A. Arndt, M. L. Billet and W. K. Blake, eds., FED-Vol. 88.
2.
Abbot, P. A., Welsh, J., and Halas, R., 1991, “Cavitation Noise Investigation of a Pump Turbine,” Proceedings International Conference Waterpower, Denver, CO, July.
3.
Abbot, P. A., Arndt, R. E. A., and Shanahan, T. B., 1993, “Modulation Noise Analysis of Cavitation Hydrofoils,” Proceedings ASME International Symposium on Bubble Noise and Cavitation Erosion in Fluid System, Winter Annual Meeting, Dec.
4.
Arndt, R. E. A., 1981, “Cavitation in Fluid Machinery and Hydraulic Structures,” Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 13.
5.
Arndt, R. E. A., et al., 1989, “Cavitation Erosion in Hydroturbines,” Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 115, No. 10, Oct.
6.
Arndt, R. E. A., 1990, “Hydraulic Turbines” Chapter 4 in Hydropower Engineering Handbook, J. S. Gulliver and R. E. A. Arndt, eds., McGraw-Hill.
7.
Arndt, R. E. A., Arakeri, V. H., and Higuchi, H., 1991, “Some Observations of Tip-Vortex Cavitation,” Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 229.
8.
Avellan, F., Dupont, P., and Farhat, M., 1991, “Cavitation Erosion Power,” Proc. ASME-JSME Cavitation ’91 Symp., FED-Vol. 116.
9.
Blake, J. R., and Gibson, D. C., 1987, “Cavitation Bubbles Near Boundaries,” Annual Review of Fluid Mech., Vol. 19.
10.
Bourdon, P., Simoneau, R., and Lavigne, P., 1989, “A Vibratory Approach to the Detection of Erosive Cavitation,” Proceedings International Symposium on Cavitation Noise and Erosion in Fluid Systems, R. E. A. Arndt, M. L. Billet, and W. K. Blake, eds., FED-Vol. 88.
11.
Chahine, G. L., Duraiswami, R., and Rebut, M., 1992, “Analytical and Numerical Study of Large Bubble/Bubble and Bubble/Flow Interactions,” Proceedings Symposium, Seoul, Korea, Aug.
12.
Guelich, J. F., 1990, “Estimation of Erosion Rates and Implosion Pressures in Cavitating Pumps and Cavitation Test Devices,” Vibration and Wear in High Speed Rotating Machinery, J. M. Montalvao e Silva and F. A. Pina da Silva, eds., Kluwer Academic Publishing.
13.
Hackworth, J. V., and Arndt, R. E. A., 1974, “Preliminary Investigation of the Scale Effects of Cavitation Erosion in a Flowing Media,” Cavitation and Polyphase Flow Forum, ASME.
14.
Hackworth, J. V., 1979, “Predicting Cavitation Erosion of Ship Propellers from the Results of Model Experiments,” Proceedings International Conference on Erosion by Solid and Liquid Impact, Cambridge, U.K.
15.
Hansson, I., and Mo̸rch, K. A., 1980, “The Dynamics of Cavity Clusters in Ultrasonic (Vibratory) Cavitation Erosion,” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 51(19), Sept.
16.
Hansson
I.
Kredinski
V.
Mo̸rch
K. A.
1982
, “On the Dynamics of Cavity Clusters
,” Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
, Vol. 15
, pp. 1725
–1734
.17.
Huse, E., 1976, “Air Injection to Avoid Cavitation Erosion in Propeller Ducts,” Norwegian Maritime Research, No. 1.
18.
Kato, H., Ye, Y. P., and Maeda, M., 1989, “Cavitation Erosion and Noise Study on a Foil Section,” Proceedings ASME International Symposium on Cavitation Noise and Erosion in Fluid Systems, R. E. A. Arndt, M. L. Billet, and W. K. Blake, eds., FED-Vol. 88.
19.
Le, Q., Franc, J. P., and Michel, J. M., 1993a, “Partial Cavities: Global Behavior and Mean Pressure Distribution,” ASME JOURNAL OF FLUIDS ENGINEERING, Vol. 115, No. 2, June.
20.
Le, Q., Franc, J. P., and Michel, J. M., 1993b, “Partial Cavities: Pressure Pulse Distribution around Cavity Closure,” ASME JOURNAL OF FLUIDS ENGINEERING, Vol. 115, No. 2, June.
21.
Maines, B. H., and Arndt, R. E. A., 1993, “Viscous Effects on Tip Vortex Cavitation,” Proceedings International Symposium on Bubble Noise and Cavitation Erosion in Fluid System, Winter Annual Meeting, Dec.
22.
van der Meulen, J. H. J., and Nakashima, 1983, “A Study of the Relationship Between Type of Cavitation, Erosion and Luminescence,” Proceedings 2nd International Conference on Cavitation, Edinburgh, pp. 13–19.
23.
van der Meulen, J. H. J., and van Renesse, R. L., 1993, “The Collapse of Laser Produced Bubbles Near a Solid Boundary and the Generation of Pressure Pulses,” Cavitation and Multiphase Flow Forum, ASME, FED-Vol. 153.
24.
Mo̸rch, K. A., 1980, “On the Collapse of a Cavity Cluster in Flow Cavitation,” Proc. First Intl. Conf. on Cavitation and Inhomgeneites in Underwater Acoustics, Vol. 4, Springer Series in Electrophysics, pp. 95–100.
25.
Mo̸rch
K. A.
1982
, “Energy Considerations in the Collapse of Cavity Clusters
,” Applied Scientific Research
, Vol. 38
, pp. 313
–321
.26.
Narita et al., 1977, “Investigations of the Ducted Propeller Cavitation and Duct Erosion Prevention by the Air Injection System,” Det Norske Veritas Symp. on Hydrodyn. of Ship and Offshore Propulsion Systems, Oslo.
27.
Okamoto, H., Okada, K., Saito, Y., and Takahei, T., 1975, “Cavitation Study of Ducted Propellers on Large Ships,” Trans. SNAME, Vol. 83.
28.
Paul, S., 1994, “Towards Laboratory Prediction of Cavitation Damage Intensities in Prototype Applications,” MS Thesis, Univ. of Minnesota.
29.
Paul, S., Ellis, C. R., and Arndt, R. E. A., 1994, “The Use of Piezoelectric Film in Cavitation Research,” Proc. ASCE Symp. on Fundamentals and Advancements in Hydraulic Measurements and Experimentation, Buffalo, N.Y.
30.
Rayleigh, Lord, 1917, “On the Pressure Developed in a Liquid During the Collapse of a Spherical Cavity,” Phil. Mag., Vol. 34, Aug.
31.
Shanahan, T. B., and Abbot, P. A., 1993, “Acoustic Emission Cavitation Test at Kerckoff 2 Powerhouse,” ORE Intl., Inc., Falmouth, MA, Accusonic Rep. No. FP22280-1.
32.
Simoneau, R., Avellan, F., and Kuhn de Chizelle, Y., 1989, “On Line Measurement of Cavitation Erosion Rate on a 2-D NACA Profile,” Proc. ASME Intl. Symp. on Cavitation Noise and Erosion in Fluid Systems, R. E. A. Arndt, M. L. Billet, and W. K. Blake, eds., FED-Vol. 88.
33.
Stinebring, D. R., Arndt, R. E. A., and Holl, J. W., 1977, “Scaling of Cavitation Damage,” Journal of Hydronautics, Vol. 11, No. 3, July.
34.
Stinebring, D. R., Holl, J. W., and Arndt, R. E. A., 1980, “Two Aspects of Cavitation Damage in the Incubation Zone: Scaling by Energy Considerations and Leading Edge Damage,” ASME JOURNAL OF FLUIDS ENGINEERING, Vol. 102, Dec.
35.
Thiruvengadam, A., 1971, Hydronautics, Inc., Laurel, MD, Technical Report 233-15.
36.
Tomita, Y., and Shima, A., 1986, “Mechanisms of Impulsive Pressure Generation and Damage Pit Formation by Bubble Collapse,” Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 169.
37.
Wang, Y. C., and Brennen, C. E., 1994, “Shock Development in the Collapse of a Cloud of Bubbles,” ASME Cavitation and Multiphase Flow Forum, Vol. 153.
38.
van Wijngaarden
L.
1972
, Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics
, Vol. 4
, pp. 369
–396
.39.
van Wijngaarden, L., 1993, “Bubble Dynamics and the Sound Emitted By Cavitation,” IUTAM Symposium on Bubble Dynamics and Interface Phenomena Birmingham, United Kingdom, Sept.
40.
Vogel, A., Lauterborn, W., and Timm, R., 1989, “Optical and Acoustic Investigations of the Dynamics of Laser-Produced Cavitation Bubbles Near a Solid Boundary,” Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 206.
41.
Zhang, S., Duncan, J. H., and Chahine, G. L., 1992, “Simulation of the Final Stage of Bubble Collapse Near a Rigid Wall,” Cavitation and Multiphase Flow Forum, ASME, FED-Vol. 135.
This content is only available via PDF.
Copyright © 1995
by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
You do not currently have access to this content.
